


zuko's scar

by coolerpbeans



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Related, During Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26237980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolerpbeans/pseuds/coolerpbeans
Summary: [short story about zuko and the gaang at ember island. ]he's safe. zuko knows that. he's fine. but then he closes his eyes.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 87





	zuko's scar

another long day at ember island. and, following it, another night treading by its toes, softly creeping to the other end. the avatar, his friends, and their new addition—the dedicated prince, the ever-so-present firebender—sleep sound in the backyard of the royal family’s abandoned beach house, all camped around a campfire. sokka sleeps first. katara and toph second. and, after a silent race between the avatar and his firebending master, aang finds himself meandering gazes between the midnight sky and zuko’s backside, wondering if the light breaths rising up the boy’s chest are that of deep sleep. 

he finds out sooner than later. aang, still wondering, busies himself with minding the small insects flying to and fro when zuko, from his blanket, groans. aang, having nearly lulled himself to sleep, darts wildly at the sound. “zuko?” another groan. the firebender shifts in his blanket, raising an arm over his head. aang, with a hesitant breath, pulls the sheets off himself. “zuko? are you okay?”

toph awakes first, spotting aang stepping over sokka’s sleeping backside to reach zuko. she, crawling carelessly over katara—it’s a failed attempt, as she (accidentally, or perhaps not) jerks the water bender awake with her knee—follows in the avatar’s approach, now accompanied by katara, who breaks away to nudge sokka and suki awake. 

now with all five of them awake, they creep closer to the still-slumbering firebender, whose grunts have quieted down to small clenches of his jaw in his sleep. sokka, rubbing his eyes, says, hushed, “what, are we here to watch him sleep?”

before aang can explain, said firebender shifts once more, a shaky hand making its way to his own face. zuko’s breaths turn desperate, now a racing attempt to breathe, and as his other arm, shakily, darts for his left eye, they all instinctively back away. but aang, regaining his place, asks tentatively once more, “zuko, are you okay?”

“it’s a nightmare,” katara informs. the prince utters a small hiss through his clenched teeth, drawing closer into himself. “should we wake him up?”

  
  
  


zuko stands tall, back facing his opponent and hardened eyes wandering through the awaiting crowd. he finds azula near the front, bearing no smirk nor frown; only an expectant gaze that warrants m some worry. but he seeks from himself some of iroh’s advice.  _ just breathe. don’t worry about her.  _

and he turns. but lining his next step, just as he takes it, crackles a tall pit of fire, encasing him before he can back away. he cries out, the red licks scratching and reddening, and he peeks through the haze desperately for a face—warm and fleeting, soft-eyed, his mother; ready to burst through and lay arms to ash to reach him once more. but she’s vacant, and so is iroh, and so is azula; a lost crowd and all he finds is—“stand up. you disappoint me, zuko.”

and he cranes his head higher, above the dying flames to meet his father, a frown deepening his face. but zuko lowers himself further, sinking flat on his knees. “i can’t fight you.”

his father sees it. the tears spill just beside the man’s feet. zuko can’t know what to expect. 

“then you will learn.”

ozai steps back, preparing his stance. but, just as he backs another, zuko reaches out, amidst all the gasps and crackles and dismay. his hands snatch his father’s, the one palm a large warm mass weighing down the prince’s fingertips. the fire lord’s free hand flickers a bright orange ruthlessly; ozai resists, just once, and pulls away but zuko, eagerly meeting his eyes, draws the hand in. 

“you need to learn,” ozai insists. his hand stays limp in zuko’s, growing hotter to the touch. but the boy holds on. “you need to—“

in a hurried breath—with a sob, a blink, a tear—zuko pulls his father’s hand closer, closer, and settles it firm against his left cheek. the placement is just right, the temperature biding, and zuko bites down another cry as his father’s hand, large and warm and offering, melts a heavy embrace on his skin. the boy sinks, slowly to the floor, and his father does the same, keeping his hand planted and shut. 

neither of them let go. ozai sits kneeling, eyes intent yet bearing no opposition, as zuko, on his burning side, sinks into the touch, for whatever this man can offer. 

he closes his eyes. and, with a hushed whisper, “i  _ have _ learned.”

  
  


sokka bites the bullet. after multiple bouts of encouragement—and force from his sister—he shoots out a hesitant hand, barely grazing the boy’s shoulder with a light tap.  _ again _ , suki beckons, and sokka’s hand dives in, shaking zuko’s shoulder. 

a beat later, after sokka’s final refusal to continue, the prince’s hand shoots up to his left eye, covering his scar with a sudden cry. short and choking, it settles in the air fleetingly, and before they can act he sits up, hands crowding his own sweating skin. he pants hard, blinking more so, and again the group crowds his space, overcoming either side of his shoulder. “zuko?” aang begins, again. “are you—“

“no!” a quick shout, accompanied by a quick bout of fire that drives them all back on their heels. zuko stands, walking off in silence, as he rubs his eyes harshly. 

  
  


sokka stands abruptly, amidst the rest, with a loud  _ tsk _ . “he almost just blasted our faces off.”

“it must’ve been a bad nightmare,” aang sunrises, rising to his feet alongside katara. after sharing a wordless glance with her, he takes the lead, stalking off in the midnight to follow zuko out the backyard and down the beach. the prince sits on the sand, a breath away from the reaching waves, and aang slides into place beside him. “are you okay? it sounded like a bad dream you were having.”

aang’s question, once more, garners no proper response. instead zuko sits, hands curled up against his hot skin, and glues his eyes to the small speck of water trickling for his feet. the rest of the group arrive, marring reluctant steps in their approach, and they settle, more so hesitantly, beside him. sokka, again, bites the bullet and leans aside, bumping zuko’s left shoulder, “hey, prince. what’s wrong?”

“please, i don’t want to talk right now,” zuko responds, a gritted response through his muffling hands. 

“are you sure about that?” katara asks. “nothing’s wrong with having a bad dream.”

his hands shift, leaving his scalp to cover the bottom half of his face as he leans forward against his knees. again, muffled, and he peeks aside to meet aang’s worried eyes, “i can’t let you see me like this.”

“you have far more things to worry about than that,” sokka counters. and then, with a tight breath, the water tribe boy sets an arm down on zuko’s shoulder. immediately, the prince turns, hands dropping from his face; and in the moonlight, they all see, glinting and streaming down the boy’s face. sokka relents and draws back. “we just want you to feel safe.”

“if you need space,” katara offers, softly. “we’ll understand.”

“i don’t want to be alone.” it blurts out, an honest confession, and zuko avoids their eyes once more, instead looking to the horizon. just a smidge on their right is a feathering blue fading a deep orange. “if i’m alone, it means,” he pauses, hand drifting to his left cheek. a caress. softer than truth. “my father’s right.”

“what does that mean?”

at aang’s question, zuko sighs. and he sinks onto his back, laying a foot away from toph’s dozing body. in his lead, the rest sigh into their own grooves in the sand. “my father punished me with finding the avatar because he knew it was an impossible task. he wanted to prove to me i could never achieve anything, restore my place, because i never proved myself worthy in the first place.” 

and, daringly, zuko thinks of his father. the dream, the burns, the cries. his mother, his sister, his uncle; and, melting it altogether, pooling into a hard embrace, “is it bad if i still...love him?” 

he pauses, struggling for another free breath. his chest heavy, he raises his arms to his face. “i still want to need him? i just—“ he chokes, shutting his eyes tight in the incoming soft brush of wind. his hands solidify against his eyelids, blocking tears. “—i want him to hold me. one more time. even if it hurts.”

his mouth shuts and he swallows, painful against the hard dry in his throat. through the soft waves and wind, he hears: them all breathing, just the same; aang’s tough sighs, katara’s worried whispers; altogether living in the silence, and zuko with them, breathing hard throughout it. 

and then, someone sits up. and another, and another. they surround, but he can’t bring himself to look, and instead he relents, letting aang grab his right and sokka his left. they pull zuko upright and before he can settle in the ground, they rush in, tangling in and raveling out. aang leans his head against zuko’s as sokka does the same; katara takes the prince’s arm as suki reaches over sokka’s shoulders; and behind them all, toph sits in behind, hands slowly pulling zuko’s away from his face. the breaking dawn meets his eyes in a lingering sunlight, casting its golden hue atop them all. 

zuko’s own hand creeps its way to his left cheek, absentmindedly tracing his own scar, just as his father first began. and aang dives in, a hand covering zuko’s, before the rest follow, offering warmth for all the boy could need. 

for a moment, zuko reconsiders. the warmth grows on him, dawning some fine affection, but meeting their smiles and cheery gazes, he takes it all. all they can offer, because it’s no pain. 

_ it’s just love.  _

  
  



End file.
